Rogan ridicules Trump's AI image portraying him as Jesus-like figure
Joe Rogan's guest, Andy Stumpf, marveled at the 'mental gymnastics involved in some of these people who are so ideologically captured'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Podcaster Joe Rogan made fun of the controversial AI image of President Donald Trump — which outraged many of his own supporters — on his show Tuesday.
Amid a feud with Pope Leo XIV about the war in Iran, Trump posted an image on social media of what many critics have called a "blasphemous" AI art image seeming to portray him as a Jesus-like figure healing the sick.
After backlash, Trump sparked a second wave of outrage by claiming the image of him in white and red robes with what appears to be holy light emanating from his hands was an attempt to portray him "as a doctor." He has since deleted the post.
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Podcaster Joe Rogan called out President Donald Trump for his military actions in Iran. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC; Chris Jakson/AFP)
Rogan’s guest, author and retired Navy SEAL Andy Stumpf, was discussing the corrosive role of moneyed corruption and the pharmaceutical industry in politics, lamenting, "I feel like it's so deeply entrenched in our political system as part of it as well to that the money transfer. How do you break that?"
"AI God. AI God has to come alive. Take over the system," Rogan joked, continuing the bit by suggesting this "AI God" would be the same one "that created that Jesus meme that Trump just posted. That’s AI God."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Joe, I told you. He explained it. He was a doctor," Stumpf said sarcastically.
"That's what they call him. That's what AI God calls Jesus. Jesus is a doctor," Rogan quipped.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Joe Rogan interviews Donald Trump on his podcast in 2024. (The Joe Rogan Experience)
Stumpf then took a more serious tone, appearing to lament the fact people covered for Trump’s use of the image by saying, "The mental gymnastics involved in some of these people who are so ideologically captured is shocking to me.
"It's weird," Rogan agreed. "It's weird because there's no way there should be this kind of money in politics."
Rogan, whose three-hour interview with Trump was a key media moment in the 2024 election, is one of many of the president’s former allies who have begun to voice criticism of him.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Like other podcasters, Rogan has specifically accused Trump of betraying key promises he campaigned on for years, such as avoiding another war in the Middle East.
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Joe Rogan announces the fight during the UFC 290 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 8, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images)
Discussing the conflict in March, Rogan said it "just doesn't make any sense to me, unless we're acting on someone else's interests, like particularly Israel's interests. It just didn't make any sense to me. Like, if they had supposedly dismantled [Iran’s] chances of making a nuclear bomb — whether or not that's true — or, I mean, it's so hard to know.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Well, it just seems so insane based on what he ran on," Rogan later added. "I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He ran on ‘no more wars’ and ‘these stupid senseless wars,’ and then we have one that we can't even really clearly define why we did it."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and did not receive immediate reply.